Off the Clock

Day 6 March 21, 2007 A crazy hectic day. We spent the morning touring a steel mill where they produce steel pipe use in the natural gas and oil industry as well as for hydraulic cylinder bodies. It was extremely interesting for me, particularly since the environment was very similar to our own Ford Foundry. The Manager who gave us the tour said that I must work in medical when I told him about my experience in the foundry. His face fell when I told him what I do; there are no women working in this plant other than in management positions. We had some discussions about this but I’m not hopeful that things will change there any time soon. After lunch we visited the October 7 school. This is their union education center like our Port Elgin. It is named the October 7 school in memory of a strike in 1963 where 33 workers were killed and 3,000 injured. I was impressed with the facilities and the programs offered. The problem is they had a very long power point presentation about the...

Day 4 March 19, 2007 Today was a busy day. We started off meeting with the Brazilian delegation at the union hall, about a 45 minute drive away. We had meetings with the health and safety director and the women in the health and safety department. This is the area where most women are active. This section is mainly for Jeff! Lol Their union structure is quite different. Not all workers are members of the union, but legislation makes it mandatory for a tax to be taken for dues that goes to the union and I think to the employer as well (tough working with interpreters sometimes). And all workers are represented in bargaining even if they don’t choose to join the union. Those that choose to join pay additional dues by choice and are subject to layoff and other forms of intimidation such as the threat of their wife/husband being fired or even police harassment. And not all workers are represented by the same union; you can have several different unions representing workers in the s...

Continuing on with the Brazil saga. I've left all the pics in these posts full size so just click on any of them for a better look. *** Day 2 March 17, 2007 This was our one free morning. After eating at the breakfast buffet (I had fresh papaya and a roll) we all headed off to the mall. The power went out for about 15 minutes, apparently this isn’t uncommon. After shopping for a couple of hours we found a restaurant for lunch. Darn if it didn’t have the Rosie the Riveter “we can do it” poster on the wall! Anyway I had the lunch special which is a very common dish here, rice and beans with beef strips. It was really good! Then we were back to the hotel for a meeting with the Brazilian delegates here. It was a really good meeting with lots of information shared and questions asked and answered. We wrapped up by about 6pm and then got ready to head to the airport. It’s not that far but with the traffic it can easily take hours. Once again I couldn’t get wireless internet wor...

Wow. I can actually use tags with the new Blogger! And so far today it's letting me post pics. So maybe I'm starting to feel a little less of the hate and a little more of the love for new Blogger. Anyway, on with the story. In case it's not blatantly obvious I've never flown Business First Class before. *** Ok, so first I get to Toronto Airport and find my way to the lounge. Julie is there but no one else. Apparently this lounge is only for people who are between flights; so we go find the new Maple Leaf Lounge where we are all supposed to meet. Everything is complimentary, drinks (beer including Guiness), wine or cocktails and snacks. Then we boarded the plane. I was served a glass of sparkling wine while everybody boarded. The seat is a recliner. There’s a gift bag in the seat with earplugs, lotions and SOCKS! This is to make your trip more comfortable and enjoyable. So after we’re in the air I went to use the washroom (first time since Windsor ; I was burs...

Due to the overwhelming clamouring of requests (ok, one! lol) for feedback from the Brazil trip, I'm going to post the emails I sent home to family about the trip. Some of it will probably bore you to tears but hey; (one of) you asked for it! lol ***** I'm here! Safe and sound. ~I~m also having trouble with this keyboard; it~s a bit of a different layout. Anyway we made it here to the hotel safely, BTW it~s an 11 hour flight, not an 8 hour one like I originally thought. I~m not able to get the wireless working on my laptop so far, and my cellphone won~t pick up a signal at all - which means no text messages. And the payphones need phone cards. Hopefully I~ll have better luck with the internet at least once we get to our next hotel in /belo Horizonte tomorrow night. It~s hot and very humid. I need to go change now that someone finally let me know how to turn on the power in my room! Love you all and miss you. I~ll write more soon.